49.8% of People Say "Yoon's Disciplinary Measures Are Too Harsh"... 52% in Gwangju and Jeolla Say "Too Lenient"

Realmeter Poll... "Appropriate" 6.9%

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Regarding Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol's '2-month suspension' disciplinary action, half of the public thinks the severity of the punishment is 'harsh.'

According to a poll conducted by Realmeter on the 16th at the request of tbs Traffic Broadcasting, 49.8% of respondents said the disciplinary action was harsh, 34.0% said it was lenient, and 6.9% said it was appropriate. Those who answered 'don't know' accounted for 9.4%. The Ministry of Justice's Prosecutor Disciplinary Committee decided in the early hours of the 16th to impose a suspension on Prosecutor General Yoon for two months, although the maximum possible suspension period is six months.

In most regions, the majority responded that the punishment was harsh. This was especially true in Daegu and Gyeongbuk (harsh 73.0%, lenient 20.6%, appropriate 0%). Responses indicating harshness were also relatively high in Busan, Ulsan, Gyeongnam, Daejeon, Sejong, Chungcheong, Incheon, Gyeonggi, and Seoul. Conversely, in Gwangju and Jeolla, 52.2% of respondents said the punishment was lenient, showing a regional difference.

By age group, responses indicating harshness were relatively high. In their 30s, 50s, and 70s and above, the percentage of respondents who thought the disciplinary action was harsh was in the 50% range. Those in their 60s and 20s also mostly thought it was harsh. However, among those in their 40s, opinions were split with 44.3% saying harsh and 45.8% saying lenient.

By ideological inclination, 75.8% of conservatives and 55.5% of moderates evaluated the punishment as harsh, whereas 61.9% of progressives responded that it was lenient. By political party support, 84.0% of People Power Party supporters said the disciplinary action was harsh, while 78.0% of Democratic Party supporters said it was lenient. Among non-affiliated voters, 28.8% answered 'don't know,' showing a high level of reserved responses. This survey contacted 7,891 voters nationwide aged 18 and older, with a final 500 respondents completing the survey, resulting in a 6.3% response rate. The sampling error is ±4.4 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.

Meanwhile, President Moon Jae-in's approval rating for his administration slightly increased. In a poll conducted by Realmeter from the 14th to the 16th at the request of tbs Traffic Broadcasting, positive evaluations rose by 1.5 percentage points from the previous week to 38.2%, and negative evaluations increased by 0.9 percentage points to 59.1%. The positive approval rating for the administration remained in the 30% range for three consecutive weeks, and the gap between positive and negative evaluations was 20.9 percentage points, outside the margin of error. This survey contacted 31,428 voters nationwide aged 18 and older, with a final 1,507 respondents completing the survey, resulting in a 4.8% response rate. The sampling error is ±2.5 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.